A Kalka court has taken a serious view of the June 6 incident wherein four murder accused were paraded barefoot with tonsured heads through the Pinjore market in full public view and directed that the matter to brought to the notice of the Sessions Judge, Panchkula.The Commissioner of Police, Panchkula, has also been directed to inquire into the incident separately or club it with the custodial torture inquiry that has already been initiated.The murder of Jitesh Manocha took place on June 5. On June 6, the police paraded the four accused — Manpreet Singh, alias Mani, Rohit Mehta, alias Vicky, Manish Kumar and Khushdeep Singh, alias Deepi — through the Pinjore market barefoot and with shaved heads.During a court hearing on June 8, counsel for Rohit Mehta, Deepanshu Bansal, submitted that the accused were subjected to custodial torture, public parading, forcible shaving of their heads, being compelled to walk barefoot, humiliation and dissemination of photographs and videos through a police media trial during custody from June 6 to June 8. He argued that their fundamental rights under Articles 14, 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India had been violated.The court then ordered the constitution of a medical board to examine the injuries sustained by the accused. The medical board found multiple injuries on the accused. In Khushdeep Singh’s case, it noted a stitched wound on the right knee joint, a brown to purplish contusion on the left knee joint, a bluish contusion on the right knee joint, pain in the left foot, and brownish to purplish contusions on the anteromedial side of the right knee and the right side of the abdomen.The MLR of Manish Kumar recorded pain in the back of the neck, left knee joint and left foot. In Rohit Mehta’s case, the medical board found brownish to purplish contusions on the anterolateral side of both knee joints and on the medial side of the left heel as well as the side of the right foot.In Manpreet Singh’s case, the board found brownish-purplish contusions on both knee joints, a stitched wound below the left knee, a brownish to purplish abrasion on the anterolateral side of the left heel, and pain and tenderness in both feet. X-ray examinations of all four accused did not reveal any bone injuries.During a subsequent hearing on July 1, the court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) Abhimanyu Rajput observed, “The investigating agency is bound to proceed strictly in accordance with law. Custody of the accused is for lawful investigation and production before court. Extra-judicial acts of custodial violence, public humiliation/censure such as forcible shaving and parading, are unauthorised and liable to be condemned.”The judge added, “In a criminal case, the appropriate way of securing justice for the victim is to promptly apprehend the perpetrators, collect evidence swiftly and carefully, make out a proper case with an intact chain of circumstances, keep the victim informed about the progress, file the final report in time, which is then properly scrutinised by the prosecution, and thereafter ensure proper and timely recording of evidence during trial.”The order further said, “The practice of subjecting an accused to public condemnation through media exposure, staged photographs, or other such acts amounts to an extra-legal penalty.”